The professional basketball community is not as big as people may think. There are 30 NBA teams and 13 WNBA teams, accounting for some 600 players, all of whom forge a bond — whether they acknowledge it or not — over one of the most popular sports in the United States.

Respect is earned, and not given easily, from one star player to another — once talent recognizes talent. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has offered his full-throated support to the WNBA over the past couple of seasons as the league has seen exponential growth, timed to match Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark‘s decision to go pro in 2024.

Clark and James’ shared accomplishment

Clark was recently named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year for 2024 after she guided the Iowa Hawkeyes to the NCAA national championship game before becoming the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year. She is the second basketball player to receive the Time accolade, doing so four years after James in 2020.

Clark has noticed James’ support for the W and for her in particular, after she led the Fever back to the playoffs after an eight-year drought. In a sitdown interview with time, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer had some strong words for the NBA’s all-time leader in points, making it clear there is shared admiration between the two generations of stars.

“He’s the greatest basketball player of all time so I think that’s pretty cool,” Clark said of James’ support, typified by an April tweet about “haters” dismissing Clark’s style of basketball.

James is not going through his best moment at present; the 39-year-old is averaging his fewest points per game since his rookie season, and he is away from team activities on an “excused absence” from the Lakers. But whenever he returns to play, LeBron will have Caitlin in his corner at the dusk of his career — and while Clark’s journey is only beginning.